I'm looking for a good bluegill and a lightweight bass setup. Recommendations?

BP...

Redington CT Classic Trout 3wt on sale at Cabelas.

I use a 5/6 weight, 9-foot graphite fly-rod with a 6 weight, forward weight fly-line and level line (either standard 6 lb or 8 lb.test fishing line) as my "leader" on which I put my hand-tied white sponge "spider" with rubber band "legs".

I tend to get too many "wind-knots" in my leaders to buy those expensive "tippet" leaders... so call me chea... er... ah... I mean "frugal".

I fish this set-up over the bluegill's spawning beds in farm ponds in late May which is the most productive time for "blues" in S.W. Ohio and usually catch a new "blue" with each cast. My personal "record" is 217 large (about one pound-sized) "blues" on 217 casts. That's a LOT of fishing for a single morning.

Incidentally, I caught an 8 pound large-mouth bass on the same white sponge spider set-up... and after the "fight" was over, I put the nice-sized bass back into my buddy's pond. That's a "lotta fish" when caught on a 5/6 weight fly-rod... and it was the largest fish I ever caught on my 5/6 weight fly-rod !!!

I crush the hook's barb down so I can simply lower my rod-tip and let the bluegill off if I don't want to keep 'em since I'm a "catch & release" fisherman.

Of course, with no actual "barb" on the hook, one MUST keep pressure on the line at all times as the fish "runs" in the typical bluegill "arc" several times before pooping out and coming to the canoe or boat with little left-over "resistance" to either be released or put in the "fish-box" or "keeper's net" for tonight's dinner or tomorrow's lunch.

This set-up will catch about 100 big "blues" before the fish beat the lure to death and the white sponge "spider" must be changed-out for a fresh one.

On a windy day, you can go to a 7 weight fly-line on a 5/6 weight fly-rod which will cast into the wind if need be, but the length of your cast will be shortened due to the "over-weight" fly-line.

Hope this helps you...


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

I like the Berkley Trout Dough spinning rods for panfish and small trout with casting bubbles.

Being that I'm an older guy, I'm still using old reliable Mitchell 308 and 310 spinning reels.

Depends on how much of a challenge/sport you're looking for, and what kind of flies you'll be offering them.

A lightweight 2 or 3 weight rig using little bitty flies at the end of gossamer leaders makes the game a little more technical/challenging, and a decent size bluegill can feel like a decent size trout on a heavier rig. It's the way I would go.

If the intent is to fill a stringer of fish no matter what, go with a 5-6-7 weight outfit with a thick heavy leader, toss poppers/streamers/terrestrials at them and horse them in.

Most of my fishing these days is done with the old Fenwick Fenglass fly rods.. Very soft action unlike the sticks made from graphite or what have you.. Most of my rods are 6wt since these were seldom produced in anything less than 5wt.

My favorite is an old 8' that is about 45 years old..

I agree with others. If you want to have fun, a 6ft/ 3 wt. would be skookum...a 7.5 foot 5 weight would be more versatile.
We always used popping bugs on a short ( 3 ft.) leader and used a sloppy presentation...opposite of trout-the more noise it makes hitting the water, the better.
Longer leader ( 7.5 ft) for sinking bugs/nymphs. The good part about them is a painfully slow process of stripping them in, so the line always remains taut...makes it easy to hook them!

One of the best days I ever had on the water was an afternoon on a farm pond in central PA where the sunnies and bluegills were as big as your two hands placed end to end. We had fished Big Spring Creek (a noted Pennsylvania limestone creek) all morning and had fun stalking a mixed bag of small to average browns and brookies when my buddy suggested we hie on over to this pond he had permission to fish. What the heck, why not? Trouble was, the only rod I had with me was a short noodle of a two-weight. I had an old half worn out 3-weight Triangle Taper line buried in my kit with which I reloaded my Hardy Flyweight reel. Using that rig to present #20 Griffith's Gnats and #20-something various colored ants while sneaking around inside the cat-o'-ninetails like a poacher found me asking my pard why the heck we hadn't gone straight there that morning instead of the creek.

A good way to bring out the kid in you.

Get yourself a spider with rubber legs and twitch it on the surface. Bluegill in my lake destroy this setup!

Ok! Here is my opinion for what it is worth. If you are just talking bluegills I would agree with a 3wt rod of what ever length would work in your environment, I would recommend a 8'-0" as a good all round 3 wt.

But, you said lightweight bass. I am not exactly sure what that means, but if it is bass that will weight less than 2 lbs. then the 3wt will also work for them. If you are talking about catching good bass that will exceed 16" and over 2 lbs. then I suggest a heavier rod.

I fished on July 26th in a farm pond in Pa. and I used a 9'-0" 6wt and had a ball catching blue gills and some bass that approached 16" in length.

Choose a fly rod for the size of the fly you expect to use and a rod heavy enough to land the fish quickly to assure its survival.

To catch large bass requires large flies and a large bass needs a rod with the backbone to land him quickly.

So, I suggest a 6wt as a do all bluegill/lightweight bass rod, and I can assure you the bluegills will still be a blast to catch on it, plus it will land your bass.

I fish smallmouths with 7 & 8 wts. due to the fact I throw large flies for 20" 4 lb. plus fish.

Thanks for all your replies. Y'all have given me much to work with. When I get this done I'll post back.

And I used to kill'em with green rubber floating spiders.

BP...

One again, the nearly universal 5# 9-ft rod with a WF line proves its worth.

Don't forget to add a nymph dropper to your popping bug or spider. A #16 hare's ear or anything similar on a 12" dropper will more than double your catch rate. Either tie the dropper to the popper hook bend, or tie the popper on and leave a long tag end for the nymph.

THIS....is a good tip!

Thanks. Learned it the fun way, too! I usually use a small soft hackle wet fly for this. Moving the popper causes that soft hackle to "breathe" just a bit - and that's all it takes!

Used to do exactly the same thing with a Grey Hackle Peacock!

The 3 wts are fine if you want little fish. Just remember though th if you are pond fishing there is a good chance for some 5 lb plus bass being there . most ponds have cat tails and submerged snags so being able to apply some pressure is not a bad thing. I use to use a glass fenwick 7 wt but now have a 81/2 ft 6 wt Using 3 wt leaders to throw # 6&8 bugs as well as wooly buggers hoppers and muddlers

Set-up is whatever floats ones boat. A comment though on bluegills. I don't normally chase them but had opportunity this past summer when I was back in Pa on a Pocono pond. I did not have any poppers, so was tossing a mix of nymph patterns (mostly hare's ears). I was picking up a good number of bluegills, but always hooking up on the casting lift, rarely sensing a take.

My sister has a two story boathouse, so I went to the upper deck and made a few casts. The bluegill would race to the fly, stop, hover, and then simply inhale the fly and sit there. The only evidence if any of a take was maybe some slight movement of 1 to 2 inches of leader. Still water trout typically move some line as they cruise and inhale bugs, but those bluegills were really subtle.

The learning portion for me was that I really needed to keep the leader straight and respond to the slightest hint of a fish. Started picking up a lot more fish after that lesson.

I prefer a 8' 4 wgt, as the stock tanks I fish also have large bass and big channel cats, too.

Most fun I've had recently with a fly rod is in a buddy's tank that's filled with
channel cat and bluegills that get fed with pea sized pellets of Purina Fish food every other day. Just tie on a size 12 foam spider with rubber band legs and start casting as the catfish come up to feed, and hang on to your rod!!! A 5 to 7 lb channel cat can put up quite a fight on a 4 wt fly rod!